1. technology and computing
2. software

Author manuscript, published in "Psychology of Sport and Exercise 14 (2013) 72-83"
DOI : 10.1016/j.psychsport.2012.08.001
Running head: AGT AND BURNOUT IN ELITE TRAINING CENTERS
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How to Achieve in Elite Training Centers without Burning Out? An Achievement Goal
Theory Perspective
Sandrine Isoard-Gautheur1, Emma Guillet-Descas1 & Joan L. Duda²
1
Centre de Recherche et d’Innovation sur le Sport, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 27-29
Boulevard du 11 Novembre, 69622 Villeurbanne, France
²School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
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Abstract
In training centers, the demonstration of high competence is essential and there is
considerable emphasis placed on sporting achievement. Athlete burnout can be a
consequence of such pressures and expectations. More information is needed regarding the
social, environmental and individual differences in achievement-related characteristics which
are relevant to the occurrence of burnout in this context.
Objectives. To examine the relationships among the coach-created climate, perceived
competence, achievement goals and burnout in elite adolescent-age athletes.
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Method. Data were collected from a sample of 309 young French handball players
participating in elite training centers. Cluster analysis and structural equation modeling
procedures were employed to evaluate the hypotheses.
Results. Comprised of differential scores on the dimensions of burnout, four distinct
clusters were identified. Athletes in these cluster groups varied in perceptions of the
motivational climate, goal orientations, and perceived competence. The structural model
regarding the hypothesized relationships between perceived coach climate, perceived
competence, achievement goals and athlete burnout, offered good fit to the data.
Conclusions. Findings indicated that young talented athletes perceiving an egoinvolving climate and emphasising mastery avoidance goals at the beginning of the season
had a higher risk of experiencing burnout symptoms at the season’s end. In contrast, players
perceiving a high task-involving climate and emphasising mastery approach goals at the
beginning of the season had lower burnout scores when the season concluded. Moreover,
players with high feelings of competence, who also report higher scores on performance
approach and avoidance goals, higher scores on mastery approach goals and lower scores on
mastery avoidance goals, are less likely to experience burnout.
Keywords. achievement goal theory, adolescent, burnout, elite athlete
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How to achieve in elite training centers without burning out? An achievement goal
theory perspective
The Achievement Context of Elite Training Centers
To the lay public, an achievement is equated to success in finishing something or
reaching an aim, especially after a lot of work or effort. Heckausen (1974) proposed that,
when an element of personal competence is involved, the individual is responsible for the
result and success in the task or activity in question is uncertain and socially valued, these are
the hallmarks of an achievement context. Most sporting situations (e.g., training,
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competition) meet these conditions. This is particularly the case for elite training centers
which are structures that receive the best young athletes from each region in France. A
national decree (Decree of July 18th 2002) specified that the elite training centers focus on
helping athletes to reach the highest levels of performance, as well as to provide the necessary
preparation for a successful transition to professional sporting life. It is also expected that the
athletes in these centers have good academic results1.
In these elite training structures, there is a dual sporting goal. On one hand, they are
intended to help athletes to learn and master new skills. On the other hand, they have the
objective of ensuring that these athletes can reach the highest level of proficiency in their
sport. Throughout their tenure in the center, the athletes will be evaluated several times and
will be involved in numerous intra-team competitions. Thus, it is paramount that the athletes
involved demonstrate and develop their personal competence as well as achieve success.
Targeting this specific achievement context, many studies (Gould, Udry, Tuffey, & Loehr,
1996; Lemyre, Hall, & Roberts, 2008) have emphasized the role of motivational factors to the
heightened risk for young and highly capable athletes to never realize their full athletic
potential and exhibit burnout. Such negative outcomes are held to be a result of young
talented athletes’ total devotion to their goals, excessive training and perceived insufficient
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psychosocial support (Gould & Dieffenbach, 2002). Other work, grounded in contemporary
achievement goal frameworks (e.g., Duda, 2001) suggest that it is variability in the
motivational climate operating, and the manner in which such young elite sport participants
tend to judge their competence and define success, which can lead to successful and healthy
progression through training centers or less optimal development, compromised well-being,
disengagement, and should potentially raise the risk of athlete burnout. Pulling from this
literature, the current study examined the relationships among perceptions of the coachcreated climate, perceived competence, approach and avoidance achievement goals and
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burnout in junior elite adolescent-age athletes over time using an achievement goal
perspective.
Athlete Burnout
Initial research interest in athlete burnout was stimulated by media reports
documenting the negative sport experiences of some high-profile athletes (Cresswell &
Eklund, 2006; Gould et al., 1996). More recently, athlete burnout has been a growing subject
of interest in the scientific community (e.g., athlete burnout was the focus of a special issue of
the International Journal of Sport Psychology in 2007). The first conceptualization of burnout
in sport was proposed by Smith (1986). Smith (1986) defined athlete burnout as
psychological, emotional and at times physical withdrawal from a formerly enjoyed activity.
According to the author, athlete burnout represents the situational, cognitive, physiological
and behavioral components of stress. Studies using this design (e.g., Gould et al., 1996)
showed that burnout comes from an increasing stress due to personal and situational factors.
Later, Silva (1990) developed a model focused on physical and training factors. In his model,
it was assumed that burnout is a product of excessive training stress and that the training load
can have both positive and negative effects. According to Silva, the negative adaptation will
lead, in its extreme form, to burnout. In addition to the earlier stress-based models, Coakley
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(1992) suggested that the social organization of elite sport can lead to burnout in athletes. He
assumed that the lack of control and the unique identity development are factors of elite sport
that lead to burnout in young athletes.
The initial research on athlete burnout has predominantly been based on a stress
perspective, but Raedeke (1997) has pointed out that burned out players have not always been
stressed. In line with this statement, Raedeke (1997) and Schmidt and Stein (1991) have
assumed that in addition to the stress perspective, the level of commitment of athletes can lead
to burnout. Indeed, these authors assumed that athletes who felt entrapped in their sport
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should be more at risk to burnout.
Past research on athlete burnout has also been marked by the lack of an operational
definition. Raedeke (1997) and Raedeke and Smith (2009) developed a multidimensional
definition based on the workplace definition of Maslach and Jackson (1981), and
characterized athlete burnout as a syndrome with three key dimensions: (a) reduced sense of
accomplishment, in terms of sport skills and abilities, (b) sport devaluation, which
corresponds to a loss of interest and desire to practice, and (c) emotional and physical
exhaustion, which refers to a negative response to the intense demands of training and
competition. This definition of burnout is currently the most used in the sport domain.
Grounded in this multi-dimensional conceptualization of burnout, Raedeke and Smith (2001,
2009) developed a valid measurement tool to assess athlete burnout, namely, the Athlete
Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ).
In the literature, little is know about the prevalence of athlete burnout (Gustafsson,
Kenttä, Hassmén & Lundqvist, 2007). Raedeke (1997) and Eklund and Cresswell (2007)
have estimated that six to elven percent of the athletes have high levels of burnout, which
correspond to moderate to high scores on the three dimensions of this syndrome. In the
present study, one goal was to provide information on the level of athlete burnout by
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examining different profiles of burnout symptoms in adolescent age athletes. This was done
by a cluster analysis on the dimensions of athlete burnout and then by considering the burnout
characteristics of and number of athletes represented in each cluster.
Several previous studies have examined the relationships between motivation and
athlete burnout (e.g., Cresswell & Eklund, 2005; Lemyre et al., 2008). Some of this past work
has assumed that burnout is the result of a motivational problem, e.g., Gould (1996) has
suggested that burnout is a “motivation gone awry”. Grounded in achievement goal
framework, Hall and Kerr (1997) have highlighted that burnout often happens in individuals
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who are strongly oriented toward ego achievement. A second goal of the present study was to
examine the links between the burnout profiles and dimensions, and the key motivational
constructs embedded in achivement goal theory (Elliot & McGregor, 2001; Nicholls, 1984).
Athlete Burnout and Achievement Goal Theory (AGT)
AGT (Dweck, 1986; Nicholls, 1984) analyzes human behavior and experiences in
relation to the demonstration of competence. Specifically, AGT assumes that the overall goal
of action, which becomes the energizing force in achievement settings, is the desire to
develop and demonstrate competence and to avoid demonstrating incompetence. This
framework provides insight into the emotional reactions, cognitions and behaviors of
individuals engaged in social situations in which their skills and abilities are involved.
The 2 X 2 Model of Achievement Goals. The goal adopted by the individual in a
given achievement context is a function of situational factors but also motivation-related
dispositions or tendencies regarding how success is typically defined and the manner in which
competence is judged (Duda, 1998). Since the inception of the achievement goal tradition,
the bi-dimensional approach emphasized two ways to define competence (i.e., the definition
of competence is one dimension of competence), which underlie the pursuit of two different
achievement goals (Nicholls, 1989). One is termed an ego or performance goal, which entails
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an emphasis on the demonstration of normative competence. A second goal, labeled a task or
mastery goal, stems from an emphasis on demonstrating self referenced competence.
More recently, research on achievement goals has also considered another dimension
of competence: the valence. It has been argued that competence can have an appetitive
(approach) or aversive (avoidance) valence (Elliot & Harackiewicz, 1996). With a
consideration of this second dimension of competence, Elliot and McGregor (2001)
developed the hierarchical model of approach-avoidance motivation which proposes four
types of goal varying in the criteria by which success and competence are defined and
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valenced. Elliot and colleagues (Elliot & Church, 1997; Elliot & McGregor, 2001) argue that
the consideration of the definition and the valence of competence allows for a more
comprehensive approach to the types of goals that individuals adopt and pursue in sport
environments.
Mastery approach goals (MApG) reflect a focus on surpassing a previous personal
performance on a task, or performing a task as well as possible. These goals are expected to
be the most positive achievement goal because they combine the more desirable definition of
competence with the more desirable valence. In past studies, this hypothesis has been
confirmed as MApG have been linked to an optimal set of motivation-related processes and
consequences (e.g., intrinsic motivation, life satisfaction, self esteem, lower anxiety; Adie,
Duda, & Ntoumanis, 2008; Castillo, Duda, Alvarez, Mercé, & Balaguer, 2011). Mastery
avoidance goals (MAvG) reflect a focus on not doing worse than previous performance, or
not making mistakes. These goals combine a desirable definition of competence with an
undesirable focus on avoiding incompetence, so they are expected to have a more negative
pattern of consequences than MApG and a more positive pattern than performance avoidance
goals (Elliot & McGregor, 2001, p.503). In previous research, this hypothesis have been
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partially supported as MAvG has been linked to more undesirable responses in sport (i.e.,
threat appraisals, amotivation; Adie et al., 2008; Nien & Duda, 2008).
When emphasizing performance approach goals (PApG), the focus is placed on
demonstrating normative ability, or outperforming others. These goals are not expected to be
entirely optimal because of their assumed definition of competence, but not entirely
maladaptive because they are valenced toward demonstrating high competence. Past studies
have confirmed these hypotheses as PApG are linked to positive consequences (e.g., intrinsic
motivation, competence valuation, lower anxiety, life satisfaction; Roberts, Treasure, &
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Conroy, 2007) but also more negative responses and characteristics (e.g., fear of failure,
extrinsic motivation, threat appraisals; Adie et al., 2008; Nien & Duda, 2008). Finally,
performance avoidance goals (PAvG) reflect a focus on avoiding the demonstration of
comparative inability, or not being outperformed by others. These goals are expected to be
the more dysfunctional of the achievement goals because they combine the less desirable
definition of competence with the less desirable valence. In previous studies, these hypotheses
have been confirmed as PAvG has been related to heightened anxiety, lower intrinsic
motivation, amotivation, and low self esteem (Castillo et al., 2011; Roberts et al., 2007).
In terms of understanding the concomitants of athlete burnout, the 2X2 model of
achievement goal (Elliot & McGregor, 2001) has received little attention. Most of the studies
examining the interplay between achievement goals and athlete burnout have been grounded
in the dichotomous model (Nicholls, 1989). Lemyre et al. (2008) found a “maladaptive
motive” profile (i.e., high ego orientation, low task orientation, high ego-involving climate,
low task-involving climate and low perceived ability) linked to higher burnout scores.
Appleton, Hall and Hill (2009, in a study of the moderation effect of achievement goals in the
perfectionism – burnout relationships) found that neither goal was a significant predictor of
burnout. In yet another study, task orientation (negative predictor) explained 12% of the total
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variance in athlete burnout scores (Lemyre, Roberts, Treasure, Stray-Gundersen, & Matt,
2004).
To our knowledge, only one investigation has examined the relationships between
achievement goals (as defined in the 2X2 model) and athlete burnout. In a short
communication, a study of French athletes revealed that sub-elite athletes who were oriented
toward both MApG and PApG reported less burnout symptoms (Guillet & Gautheur, 2008).
It seems prudent to further test the utility of the 2x2 model in terms of the prediction of athlete
burnout.
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Perceived Competence in the 2 X 2 model. Initially, in Nicholl’s dichotomous
model of achievement goals, perceived competence was assumed to moderate the relationship
between motivational climate and achievement responses (Nicholls, 1989). In the 2x2 model
and in line with the assumptions of the need for achievement theory (Atkinson, 1957), Elliot
and McGregor (2001) also extended the AGT by considering perceived competence as a
central construct of a process model, held to be a consequence of the motivational climate and
a precursor of the valence of the adopted goal (Elliot & McGregor, 2001). Whether defined
in terms of task or ego related criteria, individuals with perceptions of high competence are
expected to orient toward success and to adopt approach goals, whereas those with low
perceptions of competence are expected to orient toward failure and to emphasize avoidance
goals (Cury et al., 2002; Elliot & Church, 1997).
To date, sport studies which have specifically examined the predicted links between
perceived competence and approach/avoidance goals have provided only partial support for
Elliot’s predictions (Elliot & McGregor, 2001). In the case of university level athletes, Nien
and Duda (2008) tested the theoretically expected relationships regarding perceived
competence and fear of failure to the four achievement goals. As hypothesized, perceived
competence was positively related to both MApG and PApG. However, no significant
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negative paths between perceptions of competence and the two avoidance goals emerged.
Similar findings were reported in two subsequent investigations involving large samples of
young soccer players and university athletes, respectively (Castillo et al., 2011; Morris &
Kavussanu, 2008). These unexpected results (i.e., no significant negative paths between
competence and the two avoidance goals) could potentially be explained by the perceptions of
competence reported by athletes. Indeed in the latter two studies, as a group, the athletes
sampled reported high levels of perceived competence. Thus, it could be the case that no
significant negative paths between perceived competence and the two avoidance-based goals
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emerged because a limited number of individuals reported low perceptions of competence.
In addition to AGT’s assumption that perceptions of competence predict goal
orientations, the athlete burnout literature has also suggests that perceptions of competence
directly predict athlete burnout. Indeed, several studies have shown that high perceptions of
competence were linked to lower reported scores of athlete burnout (Cresswell & Eklund,
2004; Hodge, Lonsdale, & Ng, 2008).
Motivational Climate. As well as the perceptions of competence, one of the
fundamental assumptions of AGT is the central role of the social situation in motivational
processes (Nicholls, 1984, 1989). That is, the nature of an individual’s experience in
achievement contexts is held to be a function of the degree to which task and ego criteria for
success are perceived as salient in the context (Duda & Balaguer, 2007). Two situationfocused constructs are highlighted: a task-involving climate (or mastery climate), which
reflects the athletes’ perceptions that the environment focuses on the learning process, that
trying hard and improving are valued and that every member of the team has an important
role to play (Newton, Duda & Yin, 2000). An ego-involving climate (or performance
climate) reflects a psychological environment centered on the demonstration of normatively
referenced competence. In an ego-involving environment, athletes perceive that they will be
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punished if they make mistakes, that the coach recognises and reinforces the better players,
and that intra-team rivalry is present (Newton et al., 2000).
AGT postulates that the motivational climate induced by the behaviors of the coach
should lead to the adoption of different achievement goals (Duda, 1998). Elliot (1999)
extended the original AGT by assuming that the achievement environment can have an
indirect effect on the adoption of achievement goals by altering individuals’ perceptions of
competence. More precisely, it is assumed that a task-involving climate should lead to higher
feelings of competence. An ego-involving climate, conversely, should lead to lower feelings
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of competence.
In addition to influencing the achievement goals adopted by the athletes, the
motivational climate is expected to have direct implications for athlete burnout. This is
consistent with theoretical models of athlete burnout (i.e., Smith, 1986), which assumed that
the situational factors can have a direct impact on athlete burnout. In his stress-based model,
Smith (1986) proposed that the personality characteristics and social variables shape the
appraisal process which subsequently determine the degree to which burnout is experienced
as a result of stress. Considering past research grounded in AGT perspective and burnout
theoretical stress-based model (Smith, 1986), it can be hypothesized that a task-involving
climate should lead to reduce risks of athlete burnout and that an ego-involving climate
should lead to athlete burnout. It makes sense that athletes who feel that they will be
punished if they do make mistakes and that the coaches will not recognize their efforts should
be more at risk to burn out (i.e., to experience reduced sense of accomplishment,
emotional/physical exhaustion and to devalue their sport). Reinboth and Duda (2004)
confirmed this assumption and found that emotional and physical exhaustion was positively
predicted by perceptions of an ego-involving climate. Lemyre et al. (2008) also found that the
maladaptive motivational profile (i.e., high performance climate, low task climate) is linked to
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higher scores on the three dimensions of athlete burnout. More recently, Harris and Smith
(2009) have shown that athletes perceiving a highly ego-involving climate that is low in its
task-involving features are at higher risk to experience burnout.
The present study. Drawing from the existent literature, the first objective of the
current study was to provide information on the different burnout profiles evident in elite
training centers at the season’s end and to examine whether these profiles could be
distinguished in relation to the athletes’ perceptions of the motivational climate created by
their coach, approach/avoidance mastery/performance goal emphases, and perceived
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competence at the beginning of the season. It was hypothesized that at least two different
burnout profiles exist in term of the severity of the syndrome; a profile which could be labeled
“low burnout” and a profile which could be labeled “high burnout”. We also hypothesized
that the “low burnout” profile should have more adaptive characteristics regarding AGT
constructs than the “high burnout” profile. The second aim was to test a process model over
the course of a season, which pulls from both AGT (Nicholls, 1984) and Elliot’s 2x2 model
(Elliot & McGregor, 2001) and reflects the assumed motivation-related precursors to athlete
burnout. More precisely, we longitudinally examined the inter-relationships between the
AGT constructs and their link to athlete burnout. The present study examined the influence of
the perceived coach-created motivational climate on young sub-elite athletes’ perceived
competence and achievement goals as well as the relationship of perceived competence to
achievement goals at the beginning of the season. We also determined the direct paths
between the coach-created motivational climate, perceived competence and achievement
goals at the beginning of the season to the athletes’ reported burnout at the season’s end. It
was hypothesized (Figure 1) that a young athlete perceiving a more ego-involving climate
would feel less competent and would place greater emphasis on avoidance goals at the start of
the season, and that an emphasis on avoidance goals would be associated with greater burnout
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at the season’s end. Conversely, it was hypothesized that a young athlete perceiving a more
task-involving climate would feel more competent and would place greater emphasis on
approach goals at the start of the season, and that an emphasis on approach goals would be
associated with lower burnout at the season’s end. We also hypothesized that the perception
of the climate and the feelings of competence at the beginning of the season would have a
direct impact on the relationship with athlete burnout at the end of the season.
Method
Participants and Procedure
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A sample of 309 French handball players who were participants in elite training
centers (152 males and 157 females) participated in this study. They trained an average of 11
hours a week (SD = 3.5). Their mean age was 15.4 years (SD = .90) and their average playing
experience in their sport was 6.8 years (SD = 2.4).
In accordance with the recommendations of the ethics committee, written parental
consent was obtained in the case of the minor age athletes. Coaches were informed by mail
and contacted by phone regarding the overall purpose of the study and logistics of
questionnaire administration with their team members. The first author administered the
questionnaire pack, providing instructions to the athletes, and indicating that she would
answer any questions they had while responding to the scales. The players answered the
questionnaires twice during a season [i.e., in November (Time 1) and in April (Time 2)].
These two dates of data collection were selected because they were six months apart, which is
a sizeable period in the longitudinal analysis of the data and they represented two key points
in the season2.
Measures
In the three first measurement tools described below, participants responded used 5point scales (1 = “not true at all”, 5 = “very true”).
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Perceived coach motivational climate. The perceived coach climate was measured
by an adaptation3 of the “Questionnaire des Rôles des Autrui Significatifs dans l’Implication
des Buts d’Accomplissement en Sport” [QRASIBAS (Questionnaire of the Roles of
Significant Others in the Involvement of Achievement Goals in Sport); LeBars, Ferron,
Maïano, & Gernigon, 2006]. The questionnaire consist of four items measuring perceptions
of an ego involving coach climate ( = .86; e.g., “My coach notices only the best players”)
and four items assessing perceptions of the task involving coach climate ( = .72; e.g., “My
coach is very attentive to technical progresses of all players”).
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Perceived competence. To assess perceived handball competence, a 4-item scale
adapted from the Perceived Competence in Life Domains Scale (PCLDS, Losier, Vallerand,
& Blais, 1993) was used ( = .86; e.g., “I consider myself to be a good player”).
Multiple achievement goals. To assess achievement goals aligned with Elliot’s 2x2
model (Elliot & McGregor, 2001), a French version of the Achievement Goals Questionnaire
for Sport (Conroy, Elliot, & Hofer, 2003), the Approach and Avoidance Questionnaire for
Sport and Physical Education Settings (AAQSPE; Schiano-Lomoriello, Cury, & Da Fonséca,
2005) was used. The questionnaire consists of three items measuring MApG ( = .78; e.g., “I
want to learn as much as possible”), three items measuring MAvG ( = .83; e.g., “Sometimes
I’m afraid that I may not progress as much as I’d like”), three items measuring PApG ( =
.89; e.g., “It is important for me to be better than other players”), and three items measuring
PAvG ( = .78; e.g., “I just want to avoid performing poorly than other players”).
Athlete burnout. The athletes reported experience of burnout symptoms was
measured by a French validation of the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ, Raedeke &
Smith, 2009), the “Questionnaire du Burnout Sportif” (QBS; Isoard-Gautheur, Oger, Guillet,
& Martin-Krumm, 2010). The questionnaire consists of five items measuring reduced sense
of accomplishment ( = .75; e.g., “It seems that no matter what I do, I don’t perform as well
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as I should”), five items measuring physical and emotional exhaustion ( = .83; e.g., “I am
exhausted by the mental and physical demands of handball”), and five items measuring sport
devaluation ( = .72; e.g., “I feel less concerned about being successful in handball than I
used to”). In this last measurement tool, the participants responded on a 5-point Likert scale
(1 = “almost never”, 5 = “most of time”). All the alphas for each of the subscales were above
Henson’s (2001) suggested criterion of .70.
Data Analysis
The burnout dimensions at Time 2 were submitted to hierarchical cluster analysis in
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STATISTICA 7.1 software (Statsoft, 2005). We made the assumption that different burnout
profiles at time 2 should appear and that they should be related to different motivational
characteristics at time 1. Before the cluster analyses were carried out, all the variables were
standardized using Z scores (mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1). Standardization
prevents variables measured in larger units contributing more towards the distance measured
than the variables utilizing smaller units in the cluster analysis (Hair, Anderson, Tatham, &
Black, 1998). With this method, each observation starts out as its own cluster. Subsequently,
new clusters are formed by combining the most similar observations until either all
observations are grouped into a single cluster or the researcher determines that a parsimonious
solution has been achieved based on the agglomeration schedule and dendrogram. Ward’s
method was chosen to minimize the within-cluster differences and to avoid problems with
‘‘long chaining’’ of the observations found in other methods (Aldenderfer & Blashfield,
1984) and the distance was measured using squared Euclidean distances. Outliers (values
higher or lower than mean plus two standard deviation) were deleted from the data set.
Pairwise deletion was used for missing data. A total of 18 cases were deleted.
Structural equation modeling (SEM) in LISREL 8.7 software (Jöreskog & Sörbom,
2004) was used to examine the relationships between perceptions of the coach climate,
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perceived competence, achievement goals and burnout. We make the assumption that certain
variables (ego-involving climate and avoidance goals measured in time 1) will have a
dysfunctional effect by accentuating athlete burnout among our subjects (measured in time 2).
Other variables (task-involving climate, perceived competence and approach goals measured
in time 1) could have a functional effect by limiting athlete burnout (measured in time 2).
SEM, which is particularly useful in longitudinal research (Bentler, 1980), allows
examination of the relationships among all the constructs involved in a model using a latent
representation of constructs that is not influenced by errors of measurement. Employing SEM
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with longitudinal data, it is recommended to include the autoregressive influences of the
dependent variable (McCallum & Austin, 2000), and so the path between burnout at time 1
and burnout at time 2 was examined in the structural model. The model identification was
achieved by fixing one item’s loading per latent variable to 1. Power analysis with
STATISTICA 7.1 software (Statsoft, 2005) was performed and revealed an adequate sample
size regarding the number of latent factors in the analysis (statistical power of the model .92).
Missing data was handled by multiple imputation available in the LISREL 8.7 software
(Jöreskog & Sörbom, 2004).
It is recommended to examine and report a range of fit indices to achieve a
comprehensive evaluation of fit (Hu & Bentler, 1999; McCallum & Austin, 2000). Based on
the suggestions made by several researchers (Hu & Bentler, 1999; McCallum & Austin, 2000)
and to enable comparisons with previous studies, multiple fit indices were chosen to assess
model fit: the Bentler-Bonett non-normed fit index (NNFI), the comparative fit index (CFI),
the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), and the standardized root mean
squared residual (SRMR). Values between .90 and .94 for the CFI and NNFI indicate
acceptable fit, whereas values of .95 and higher indicate relatively good fit. RMSEA values of
less than .05 represent a close fit, ideally the lower value of the 90% confidence interval is
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very near zero (i.e., not worse than 0.05) and the upper value is not very large (i.e., less than
.08). The width of the confidence interval is very informative about the precision in the
estimate of the RMSEA. A cutoff value close to .08 for SRMR indicate acceptable model (Hu
& Bentler, 1999). With this method, we tested a model with perceived coach climate
predicting competence, the four achievement goals and burnout, competence predicting the
four achievement goals and burnout, and the four achievement goals predicting burnout.
Results
Preliminary Results
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Descriptive statistics for perceptions of the task- and ego-involving facets of the coach
climate, perceived competence, multiple achievement goals and burnout scores are presented
in Table 1. Adolescents reported moderate scores on the perceived ego-involving coach
climate, competence, MAvG, PAvG, PApG, reduced sense of accomplishment, exhaustion
and sport devaluation scales. They reported high scores on the scales assessing perceptions of
the task-involving coach climate and MApG emphasis.
Burnout Profiles at Time 2 and their Links with the Motivational Climate, Achievement
Goals and Perceived Competence at Time 1
A hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted on the three dimensions of burnout at
Time 2 (Figure 2). Joining two very different clusters results in a large percentage of change
in the coefficients. So we looked for large increases in the agglomeration coefficient (Hair et
al., 1998). The solution with four clusters was identified as the more adequate (45% of
change in the coefficients between the solution with three clusters and the solution with four
clusters and only 33% of change between the solution with four clusters and the solution with
five clusters). Then, a nonhierarchical technique (i.e., K-mean) was used to adjust the results
from the hierarchical procedure. Finally, after having repeated the same procedure with our
sample split in two equal groups, the adoption of four clusters was confirmed. This approach
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18
is the opposite of the approach used by Lemyre et al. (2008). Indeed, they created clusters on
the motivational characteristics at time 1 and examined the links of these profiles with the
scores on the three dimensions as well as total burnout at time 2. Our approach provides more
insight into athlete burnout as it offers information on the types and prevalence of burnout
profiles which exist among adolescent athletes in training centers at the season’s end.
Moreover, the tactic adopted allowed us to examine the links between the motivational
characteristics of these young sub-elite athletes at the beginning of the season and the
different burnout profiles which emerged at the conclusion of the season.
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Cluster 1 consisted of players with a “lower burnout” profile (N = 86), Cluster 2
consisted of players with a “higher exhaustion” profile (N = 66), Cluster 3 consisted of
players with a “higher sense of reduced accomplishment” profile (N = 102), and Cluster 4
consisted of players with a “higher devaluation and reduced accomplishment” (N = 55; Table
2).
The next stage of the analysis was to examine the motivational characteristics
corresponding to the four clusters considering the key constructs embedded in AGT (Figure
3). A one-way MANOVA was conducted with perceptions of the task- and ego-involving
coach climate, perceived competence, and four achievement goals at Time 1 as the dependent
variables, and cluster group membership as the independent variable.
The results of the multivariate test indicated significant and conceptually coherent
differences among the four clusters on the perceived coach climate dimensions and
perceptions of competence (Wilks’ Λ = 0.89, F (9, 309) = 3.97, p < .001). Post hoc tests
using Newman-Keuls were used to examine pairwise comparisons between each of the groups
(Table 2). Athletes in Cluster 4 had significantly higher scores on perceptions of an egoinvolving coach climate than athletes in Clusters 1 and 2 (p < .001). In terms of the perceived
task-involving features of the coach climate, there were no significant differences between the
Running head: AGT AND BURNOUT IN ELITE TRAINING CENTERS
19
four clusters (p < .001). Athletes in Cluster 1 had significantly higher scores on perceived
competence than athletes in the three other clusters (p < .001). The results of the multivariate
test also indicated significant differences among the four clusters on the emphasis placed on
the four achievement goals (Wilks’ Λ = 0.82, F (12, 309) = 5.08, p < .001). The post hoc
tests revealed that athletes in Cluster 4 had significantly lower scores than the athletes in the
three others cluster on MApG (p < .001). Finally, athletes classified in Cluster 1 had
significantly higher scores on PApG and significantly lower scores on MAvG than athletes in
the three other clusters (p < .001). In terms of the importance placed on PAvG, there were no
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significant differences between the four clusters.
Relationships between the Dimensions of the Perceived Coach Climate, Perceptions of
Competence, Achievement Goals, and Burnout
Before testing the structural model, a measurement model was tested via CFA.
Adopting this strategy allows us to focus on the factor structure underlying the items of each
construct before looking at hypothesized structural relationships, and to test the discriminant
validity of factors sharing a common method (i.e., self-report), which would tend to inflate
correlations between the measures across constructs (Perugini & Conner, 2000). Maximum
likelihood factor extraction (all skewness and kurtosis values below 1 in absolute magnitude)
with a variance-covariance matrix was used with Lisrel 8.71 software (Jöreskog & Sörbom,
2004). The CFA model was based on 39 observed measures and ten latent constructs. As
recommended by Anderson and Gerbin (1988), the latent factors were allowed to correlate
freely during assessment of the measurement sub-model.
The measurement model provided an adequate fit to the data (χ² (1406) = 2705.48,
NNFI = .92, RMSEA = .05 [90% CI = 0.048; 0.054], CFI = .93, SRMR = .06). The
correlations between latent constructs were inspected to verify the discriminant validity
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20
between the constructs. The results from the CFA revealed that the measurement model was
appropriate.
The structural model was tested using maximum likelihood estimation with Lisrel 8.71
software (Jöreskog & Sörbom, 2004) because skewness and kurtosis were lower than one in
absolute value. The model revealed adequate fit to the data (χ² (1412) = 2664.18, NNFI = .92,
RMSEA = .05 [90% CI = 0.048; 0.054], CFI = .93, SRMR = .09). Values and directions of the
significant paths between the constructs can be viewed in Figure 4. The paths between egoinvolving climate on the one hand, and competence, MApG, PApG, PAvG, and the three
hal-00904510, version 1 - 16 Nov 2013
dimensions of burnout on the other hand were non-significant. The paths between taskinvolving climate on the one hand, and competence, MAvG, PApG, PAvG, and the three
dimensions of burnout on the other hand were non-significant. The path between competence
and sport devaluation was non-significant. The paths between MApG on the one hand, and
reduce sense of accomplishment, and physical and emotion exhaustion on the other hand were
non-significant. The paths between MAvG on the one hand, and physical and emotional
exhaustion and sport devaluation on the other hand were non-significant. The paths between
PApG on the one hand, and reduced sense of accomplishment, and sport devaluation on the
other hand were non-significant. Finally, the paths between PAvG and the three dimensions
of burnout were non-significant.
Discussion
The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationships between the
perceived coach climate, perceived competence, approach and avoidance-based achievement
goals and burnout among sub-elite adolescent handball players participating in training
centers. Cluster analyses were used to examine the profiles of athlete burnout present in these
structures and their links with the key motivational constructs embedded in AGT. Structural
equation modeling was used to longitudinally examine the inter-relationships between the
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21
AGT constructs and their links to athlete burnout. The results partially support our
hypotheses grounded in achievement goal frameworks (Elliot & McGregor, 2001; Nicholls,
1984) and the extant literature on the associations between achievement goals and experiences
of burnout in athlete populations. The hypothesized structural model (Figure 1) fit the data
well. We found perceptions of the coach climate and perceived competence to differentially
predicted achievement goals, which predicted the burnout characteristics exhibited by the
handball players six months later.
AGT Constructs: the Prediction of Burnout Profiles
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Athlete burnout is considered to be a syndrome with three dimensions (Raedeke &
Smith, 2009), which suggests that in order to consider that an athlete is burned out, he or she
should report moderate to high scores on all the three dimensions (Eklund & Cresswell, 2007;
Raedeke, 1997). Recent qualitative studies using retrospective interviews have proposed that
the three dimensions of burnout develop differentially over time and that sport devaluation
might be the last step of a sequence involving emotional/physical exhaustion and reduced
sense of accomplishment (Cresswell & Eklund, 2007; Gustafsson, Hassmén, Kenttä &
Johansson, 2008). In the current study, the results of the cluster analysis revealed four
burnout profiles. No comprehensively “burned out” profile was revealed (i.e., a profile
marked by moderate to high scores on all three dimensions). This non-finding might be due
to what is termed the ‘healthy worker effect’ (Gustafsson et al., 2007). Indeed, athletes with
high scores on all three burnout dimensions would have been expected to have dropped out
from sport participation due to the negative self-perceptions and emotional and physical
states. One of the profiles which emerged in this study, labeled “higher sport devaluation and
reduced accomplishment” represents the more negative burnout profile in the present research
because two of the three dimensions of burnout are moderate to high, and represented 17,80%
of the participants. In particular, scores on sport devaluation were relatively high, and this
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22
attribute is considered as the last step in the ‘burning out’ process (Cresswell & Eklund, 2007;
Gustafsson et al., 2008). Compared with the prevalence reported in past researches
(Cresswell & Eklund, 2007; Raedeke, 1997), the percentage of athletes in this profile was
slightly higher. However, the profile in the present study consisted of moderate to high scores
only on two dimensions of athlete burnout (i.e., reduced sense of accomplishment and sport
devaluation) whereas in past study the lower percentage concerned athletes with moderate to
high scores on the three dimensions of athlete burnout. This profile corresponded to more
negative achievement related characteristics. Indeed, the players who had this profile at the
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end of the season, perceived the coach-created environment to be more ego-involving,
reported lower competence, and placed less emphasis on MApG and PApG in the beginning
of the season. These results are concordant with the theory and past research. According to
AGT, higher maladaptive responses may appear among individuals who place less emphasis
on MApG and PApG and higher emphasis on MAvG and PAvG, who perceive lower
competence, a low task-involving coach climate and a highly ego-involving coach climate
(Adie et al, 2008; Castillo et al., 2011; Duda, 2005; Nien & Duda, 2008; Roberts et al., 2007).
Indeed perceptions of an ego-involving coach climate have been linked to maladaptive
responses (Duda & Balaguer, 2008) and to athlete burnout specifically (Harris & Smith,
2009). Moreover, lower perceived competence has also been found to be a predictor of
athlete burnout (Cresswell & Eklund, 2004; Lonsdale et al., 2008), and MApG and PApG
have been coupled with positive consequences (Adie et al., 2008; Roberts et al., 2007).
Finally, research by Lemyre et al. (2008) revealed the more maladaptive motivational profile
(i.e., characterized by perceptions of an ego-involving coach climate and lower perceived
ability) to be linked to higher burnout.
With respect to the profile marked by lower burnout characteristics at the conclusion of the
competitive season, these athletes viewed the climate as low in its ego-involving features.
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23
They were also high in a MApG and PApG emphasis, and placed lower importance on MAvG
at the beginning of the season. These results are concordant with the theory and past research
as an environment low in its ego-involving features would not be expected to link to
maladaptive responses (Duda & Balaguer, 2008). Further, MApG and PApG have been
associated with positive outcomes and MAvG has emerged as a predictor of undesirable
responses in sport (Adie et al., 2008, Roberts et al., 2007). Our findings are also aligned with
the research by Guillet and Gautheur (2008) involving young elite handball athletes.
However, the present results are only in part consistent with a previous study by Lemyre et al.
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(2008) who found that high ego orientation and low task orientation were linked to burnout.
Drawing from our MANOVA results, both mastery and performance approach goal emphases
were high among athletes classified in the cluster labeled “lower burnout”. Hodge and
Petlichkoff (2000) have shown that a profile comprises of individuals with both high task and
high ego orientations is linked to higher perceived competence. Indeed, consistent with AGT,
athletes with high task orientation might rate themselves as having high competence, even if
they have high ego orientation. That is to say, individuals high in both task and ego
orientations have several achievement options for continued participation in the activity
(Duda, 1989) and might have lower risks to burnout than individuals low in both task and ego
orientations.
With respect to the emerging profile labeled “higher exhaustion”, the players within this
cluster tended to perceive their sporting environment to be less ego-involving. Our findings
are in contrast to the theory as a highly ego-involving coach climate is expected to be linked
to more maladaptive responses (Duda & Balaguer, 2008), and to the results of Reinboth and
Duda (2004) in their research involving adolescent-age male players. These researchers
found higher exhaustion to be positively linked to perceptions of a highly ego-involving
climate in non-elite athletes. However, in their study on judo elite training centers, Le Bars,
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24
Gernigon and Ninot (2009) found that even if the context of high level training is highly egoinvolving, it is not detrimental to athletes’ motivation as long as a task-involving climate is
concomitantly sustained. They also highlighted that the peer motivational climate was
relatively independent from the coach-motivational climate. It can be speculated that in the
current study, lower ego-involving coach climate was linked to higher exhaustion because
other motivational determinants of the climate (i.e., perceived peer and parent motivational
climate) may have influenced the perceived level of exhaustion. Future research should
examine the influence of the perceived motivational climate from coaches, peers and parents
hal-00904510, version 1 - 16 Nov 2013
on athlete burnout.
Relationship of Achievement Goals to Athlete Burnout
The present findings revealed MApG to be a negative predictor of sport devaluation,
that MAvG was positively associated with a reduced sense of accomplishment, and that
PApG was positively linked to reported emotional and physical exhaustion in the players.
However no significant relationships between the emphasis placed on PAvG and indices of
athlete burnout emerged. These results are partly in accordance with previous studies on the
concomitants of burnout in sport, which have primarily been based on the dichotomous
approach of achievement goals. These past studies have shown that high ego orientation is
linked to a greater risk of experiencing the burnout syndrome in athletes (Lemyre et al.,
2008). Guillet and Gautheur (2008), in their study grounded in the 2x2 achievement goals
approach, found that a profile marked by high MApG and PApG linked to reduced athlete
burnout.
The present results indicated that each achievement goal (expect for PAvG) has a
unique relationship with a specific burnout symptom. First, and aligned with previous
research, MAvG are linked with reduced sense of accomplishment. Adie et al. (2008) and
Nien and Duda (2008) have also found MAvG to be linked to undesirable responses in sport
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25
(e.g., threat appraisals and amotivation). By focusing on the definition of this achievement
goal (i.e., focus placed on not doing worse than previous performance, or not making
mistakes; Elliot & McGregor, 2001), it is not surprising that this goal is especially linked to
the feeling of reduce sense of accomplishment, which corresponds to a sense of
ineffectiveness and the tendency of an individual to evaluate himself negatively in terms of
performance and athletic achievements (Raedeke & Smith, 2001).
The current results also shown that MApG was negatively linked to sport devaluation.
This relationship is in concordance with the theory and past studies. According to AGT, these
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goals are expected to be the most positive achievement goal because they combine the more
desirable definition of competence with the more desirable valence (Elliot & McGregor,
2001). Adie et al. (2008), and Castillo et al. (2011) confirm this hypothesis and found MApG
to correspond to an optimal set of motivational related processes and consequences (e.g.,
intrinsic motivation, life satisfaction and self-esteem). When emphasis is placed on mastery
approach achievement goals, the individual focuses on surpassing a previous personal
performance on a task, or performing a task as well as possible. Sport devaluation is
considered to be the most negative dimension of athlete burnout and MApG is assumed to be
the quintessential adaptive achievement goal. Because of the way competence is defined (i.e.,
self-referenced) and valenced (i.e., approach) in MApG it make sense that this type of goals
would not lead to the negative and detached attitude towards sport, resulting in a lack of
interest about sport and performance associated with sport devaluation (Raedeke & Smith,
2009)
Finally, in the present study, PApG was positively linked to emotional and physical
exhaustion. This result is in accordance with AGT and the previous studies of Adie et al.
(2008) and Nien and Duda (2008). Indeed, due to the inherent comparative and performance
definition of competence embedded within it, PApG has been linked to both positive
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26
consequences (e.g., intrinsic motivation, self esteem, life satisfaction) and maladaptive
responses and characteristics (e.g., fear of failure, extrinsic motivation, threat appraisals;
Roberts et al., 2007). Athletes scoring high in PApG focus on demonstrating normative
ability or outperforming others, and demonstrate a relentless striving towards high
comparative achievement standards which are fuelled by a fear of failure (Elliot & McGregor,
2001). Therefore, athletes who follow these achievement goals (particularly if not also
striving for MApG) are at higher risk to be physically and emotionally exhausted (Raedeke &
Smith, 2009).
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Relationships of Perceived Competence to Achievement Goals
Elliot (1999) assumed that perceived competence is a precursor of the valance of the
adopted goals. Elliot and McGregor (2001) hypothesized that competence would be
positively linked to MApG and PApG and negatively linked to MAvG and PAvG. In the
current study, perceived competence was positively associated with MApG and PApG, and
negatively associated with MAvG. These observed associations are consistent with the theory
(Elliot & McGregor, 2001) and aligned with some previous empirical work. More
specifically, in research grounded in the 2x2 framework, Cury, Elliot, Da Fonséca and Moller
(2006) found that perceived competence was positively related to MApG and PApG, and
negatively linked to MAvG and PAvG. However, other studies in the sport domain have not
found significant and expected negative relationships between perceived competence and the
emphasis placed on MAvG (Castillo et al., 2011; Nien & Duda, 2008).
In the present study and in contrast to what would be expected based on Elliot’s theory
(Elliot & McGregor, 2001), we also found that perceived competence was positively related
to PAvG. However, this significant relationship has to be taken with caution as these two
constructs are significantly negatively correlated in the correlation matrix (i.e., correlation
between perceived competence at time 1 and PAvG at time 1 = -.19). It could then be
Running head: AGT AND BURNOUT IN ELITE TRAINING CENTERS
27
plausible that the observed significant path was due to suppression effects (MacKinnon, Krull
& Lockwood, 2000). Indeed, in this relationship, MAvG may act as a suppressor in a
mediative model. In this model, to be considered as a suppressor, an independent variable
(i.e., the suppressor) may be linked to another independent variable and these two variables
may be causes of the dependent variable (Cohen, Cohen, West & Aiken, 2003). In the present
study, perceived competence and MAvG (i.e., suppressor) may be linked together and may
cause PAvG. It can be hypothesize that the combination of high perceived competence and
the desire to not doing worse than a previous performance (i.e., MAvG) should lead the
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athlete to focus on avoiding the demonstration of comparative inability (i.e., PAvG). Indeed
in the correlation matrix, MAvG is positively and significantly correlated to perceived
competence (correlation coefficient = .14), and to PAvG (correlation coefficient = .21).
Relationship of Perceived Competence to Athlete Burnout
The present findings revealed high perceived competence to negatively predict
physical and emotional exhaustion and reduced sense of accomplishment. These results are in
concordance with the theory and past studies. Perceived competence is held to be a precursor
of the valence of the adopted goal (Elliot & McGregor, 2001) and it is assumed to orient the
individual toward striving for success and the avoidance of failure. However, in AGT, it is
assumed that high perceived competence should have positive consequence (at least in the
short term) on athletes, regardless of the achievement goals adopted (Duda, 2005). In past
studies on athlete burnout, it has been shown that perceived competence is negatively linked
to burnout. For example, Lemyre et al. (2008) found that low perceived ability linked to
increased burnout symptoms. Cresswell and Eklund (2004), in their study of elite rugby
players, have also shown that high perceived competence corresponded to a lower risk of
burnout. Hodge et al. (2008) demonstrated in elite rugby players that perceptions of
competence were negatively linked to a reduced sense of accomplishment and sport
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28
devaluation. In the present study results, no significant path was found between perceived
competence and sport devaluation. However, perceived competence was positively linked to
MApG which was negatively linked to sport devaluation.
Influence of Coach Climate on Perceived Competence, Achievement goals and Athlete
Burnout
Duda (2005) highlighted that the motivational climate is best viewed as a
psychological environment that influences individuals’ feelings of competence. Elliot (1999)
assumed that achievement environment can have an indirect effect on the adoption of
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achievement goals by altering individuals’ perceptions of competence. In the current study, at
the start of the season, perceptions of an ego-involving climate and task-involving climate
were not significantly linked to perceived competence and to athlete burnout. Considering the
expected negative implications of an ego-involving environment (Duda & Balaguer, 2007), it
seems surprising that the motivational climate did not link to perceived competence and
athlete burnout in the present study. The absence of associations between perceptions of the
coach climate and perceived competence might be explained by the possibility that the
climate and competence interact and together impact achievement goal emphases. In this
view, the perceived competence might not be a consequence of the coach climate, but instead
should interrelate with the climate. Moreover, it should be kept in mind that the perceived
coach climate, perceived competence and achievement goals were measured at the same point
in time. It is possible that by measuring these constructs at different time intervals, significant
relationships between perceptions of the coach-created climate and perceived competence
might emerge. The absence of associations between perceptions of the coach climate and
athlete burnout might also be explained by the possibility that the climate indirectly influences
athlete burnout via the achievement goals adopted by the individuals. These proposed
possibilities need to be tested in future research.
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29
In the literature, it has been assumed that a task-involving climate refers to structures
that emphasized task mastery, whereas a perceived ego-involving climate captures structures
that emphasize social comparison and intra-group competition (Newton et al., 2000). In the
present study, perceptions of a task-involving climate corresponded to greater importance
being placed on MApG. This finding is aligned with the theory and results from previous
studies. More specifically, a task-involving coach climate which captures an environment
focused on the learning process, that trying hard and improving are valued and that every
member of the team had an important role to play (Newton et al., 2000) has been linked to
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MApG. In accordance with the current results, in the physical education context, Cury et al.
(2002) found that a perceived task-involving climate was a positive predictor of mastery
goals. Elliot (1997), in an academic setting, also observed perceptions of a task-involving
climate to lead to MApG and PApG.
In the present study, the results also show that perceptions of an ego-involving climate
positively linked to MAvG. According to AGT, an ego-involving coach climate corresponds
to the perception of an environment focused on the demonstration of normatively referenced
competence, that athletes will be punished if they made mistakes and that coach recognized
and reinforced the better players (Newton et al. 2000). This climate has been related to
MAvG goal emphasis which corresponds to a focus on not doing worse than previous
performance or not doing mistakes (Elliot & McGregor, 2001). In line with the AGT and the
result presented in this study, Cury et al. (2002) found that perceptions of an ego-involving
climate were a negative predictor of mastery goals.
Limitations and Perspectives
The current study examined the influence of the task-involving and ego-involving
climate with an AGT perspective. However, recent research on the motivational climate
using a Self-Determination Theory perspective (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 2002) proposes that
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30
additional motivation-related dimensions of the coach climate (i.e., autonomy supportive and/
or controlling) are relevant to the incidence of athlete burnout (Quested & Duda, 2011) and
therefore future research should examine the influence of both the ego- / task-involving
climate, and the autonomy supportive and/ or controlling climate on perceived competence,
achievement goals and athlete burnout.
The student-athletes participating in this study belong to a particular achievement
structure where the demonstration of both personal mastery and comparative performance are
important. This study needs to be replicated with other athletes (and elite performers) in other
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achievement contexts, in order to examine whether mastery and performance orientations, as
well as their interplay between motivational climate and the perceived competence, play a
similar role in predicting the incidence of burnout.
The present study examined the inter-relationships between the achievement goal
constructs (drawing from Eliot’s 2 x 2 model) and athlete burnout. Future research should
examine the moderating role of competence in the relationships between the
climate/achievement goals, and between the climate/athlete burnout. The moderating role of
achievement goals in the relationships between the climate/athlete burnout and the
competence/athlete burnout should also be examined. Finally, it should also be of particular
interest to do intervention based studies where coaches are taught how to create a more taskinvolving climate, and to examine changes in athlete burnout during and after such an
intervention.
Conclusion
The results stemming from the cluster analysis and structural equation modeling of the
current study indicate that a perceived ego-involving climate, in addition with low perceptions
of competence and a MAvG emphasis are vulnerability factors in terms of the degree to which
burnout symptoms are exhibited by young talented handball players during the course of a
Running head: AGT AND BURNOUT IN ELITE TRAINING CENTERS
31
season. As a consequence, the present work implies that the coaches in these training centers
might play a key role in promoting or attenuating the development of burnout in junior elite
athletes. It therefore seems of particular interest to pursue this line of research on athlete
burnout grounded in achievement goal frameworks.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the French Handball Federation which provided funding to
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support this research.
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32
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Footnote
1
Student-athlete in PE had higher success rates at the national exam “baccalauréat” - nearly
95% - than the students outside the PE program - nearly 80%.
2
In November, the athletes had entered the structure only two months ago, they were not have
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any exam period since December, and their competitive season had begun in the middle of
October. In April, the athletes had been in the structure for eight months, it was the last
school term, they had to take several exams, and it was almost the end of the competitive
season so the matches were really important for the athletes. So, in this last period, the
athletes had longer training periods, more homework, and more pressure; which can lead to an
increase in fatigue and in burnout among these athletes (Gustafsson et al., 2007).
3
Items of this questionnaire have been modified in regard with Biddle, Cury, Goudas,
Sarrazin, Famose and Durand (1995) questionnaire measuring physical education class
climate. Precisely, some items of the task-involving climate of the QRASIBAS have been
modified in accordance with the questionnaire of Biddle et al. (1995) in order to add other
dimensions (i.e., working together and equal recognition) to the learning aspect of the taskinvolving climate.
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Table 1
Descriptive Statistics and Pearson Correlation Matrix for Burnout, Achievement Goals, Competence and Perceived Coach Climate
M
SD
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
1. Reduced
accomplishment T1
2. Exhaustion T1
2,56
0,50
1,00
2,60
0,69
0,13*
3. Sport devaluation T1
1,69
0,66
0,48*
0,01
1,00
4. Ego-involving
climate T1
5. Task-involving
climate T1
6. Mastery-Approach
T1
7. Mastery-Avoidance
T1
8. PerformanceApproach T1
9. PerformanceAvoidance T1
10. Competence T1
2,48
1,07
0,18*
-0,03
0,25*
4,22
0,67
-0,14*
0,07
-0,15* -0,23*
1,00
4,81
0,41
-0,30*
0,02
-0,37*
-0,10
0,24*
1,00
3,69
0,92
-0,03
-0,03
-0,10
0,06
0,04
0,29*
1,00
3,34
1,10
-0,20*
-0,08
-0,11*
0,08
0,04
0,29*
0,69*
1,00
3,45
1,01
0,36*
0,07
0,12*
0,27*
-0,08
0,07
0,21*
0,04
1,00
3,24
0,68
-0,57*
-0,01
-0,22*
-0,08
0,10
0,30*
0,14*
0,33*
-0,19*
1,00
11. Reduced
accomplishment T2
12. Exhaustion T2
13. Sport devaluation
T2
14. Ego-involving
climate T2
15. Task-involving
climate T2
16. Mastery-Approach
T2
17. Mastery-Avoidance
T2
18. PerformanceApproach T2
19. PerformanceAvoidance T2
20. Competence T2
2,87
0,58
0,57*
0,16*
0,26
0,18*
-0,07
-0,18*
-0,05
-0,22*
0,31*
-0,39*
1,00
2,61
1,90
0,76
0,80
0,12*
0,35*
0,52*
0,06
-0,03
0,60*
-0,05
0,16*
0,01
-0,07
0,01
-0,35*
-0,02
-0,08
-0,01
-0,13*
0,08
0,06
-0,07
-0,16*
2,99
1,10
0,06
-0,02
0,12*
0,57*
-0,11
-0,10
0,02
0,05
0,14*
4,20
0,70
-0,16*
-0,03
-0,21* -0,27*
0,39*
0,30*
0,10
0,08
4,58
0,74
-0,26*
-0,02
-0,37* -0,15*
0,13*
0,52*
0,12*
3,37
1,13
-0,09
-0,06
-0,07
-0,07
0,15*
0,18*
3,06
1,21
-0,16*
-0,06
-0,09
-0,00
0,08
3,22
1,07
0,19*
0,03
-0,01
0,09
3,23
0,72
-0,45*
-0,06
-0,17* -0,13*
14
15
16
17
18
19
0,20*
0,43*
1,00
0,12*
1,00
-0,07
0,24*
0,05
0,21*
0,04
0,09
-0,24*
-0,04
-0,30* -0,28*
1,00
0,16*
-0,04
0,18*
-0,27*
0,06
-0,56* -0,19*
0,43*
1,00
0,55*
0,50*
0,01
0,11
-0,19*
-0,08
-0,11*
-0,01
0,24*
0,19*
1,00
0,23*
0,50*
0,64*
0,00
0,21*
-0,24*
-0,02
-0,16*
-0,04
0,16*
0,19*
0,77*
1,00
0,04
0,15*
0,10
0,00
0,39*
-0,12*
0,39
0,14*
0,06
0,06
0,04
0,15*
0,07
0,03
1,00
0,12*
0,25*
0,07
0,24*
-0,18*
0,54*
0,24*
0,28*
0,21*
0,32*
-0,31*
20
1,00
* Correlations are significant at p < .05.
1,00
1,00
-0,65* -0,13* -0,41* -0,19*
1,00
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43
Table 2
Cluster Characteristics, Effect Sizes of MANOVA and Means of Perceived Coach Climate,
Competence, and Achievement Goals at Time 1 for Each Cluster.
« Lower
Burnout »
« Higher
Exhaustion »
« Higher Reduced
Sense of
Accomplishment »
« Higher
Devaluation and
Reduced
Accomplishment »
M (Z)
M (Z)
M (Z)
M (Z)
Effect
sizes of
MANOVA
(2)
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Cluster characteristics
Reduced
Accomplishment
T2
2.24 (-1.11)
2.84 (-0.05)
3.14 (0.43)
3.44 (0.98)
Exhaustion T2
2.15 (-0.63)
3.57 (1.27)
2.32 (-0.41)
2.81 (0.22)
Sport
Devaluation T2
1.46 (-0.56)
1.65 (-0.30)
1.75 (-0.21)
3.27 (1.62)
86
66
102
55
N
Means of the dependent variables for each cluster
Ego-involving
climate T1
2.23 (-0.25)
2.33 (-0.14)
2.61 (0.16)
2.81 (0.30)
.046
(moderate)
Task-involving
climate T1
4.33 (0.15)
4.25 (0.05)
4.13 (-0.11)
4.15 (-0.11)
.014 (non
significant)
Competence
T1
3.51 (0.39)
3.19 (-0.07)
3.17 (-0.08)
2.98 (0.39)
.078
(moderate)
Mastery
Approach T1
4.91 (0.22)
4.87 (0.14)
4.81 (-0.004)
4.60 (-0.57)
.073
(moderate)
Mastery
Avoidance T1
3.01 (-0.44)
3.66 (0.21)
3.58 (0.14)
3.63 (0.23)
.080 (high)
Performance
Approach T1
3.65 (0.28)
3.26 (-0.07)
3.25 (-0.07)
3.10 (-0.26)
.036 (low)
Performance
Avoidance T1
3.85 (0.12)
3.55 (-0.13)
3.69 (-0.01)
3.62 (-0.02)
.008 (non
significant)
hal-00904510, version 1 - 16 Nov 2013
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44
Figure 1: Hypothesized model of the relations between coach climate, perceived competence, achievement goals and burnout across two
measurement waves. T1 = November 2007; T2 = April 2008.
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Running head: AGT AND BURNOUT IN ELITE TRAINING CENTERS
Figure 2: Z-scores for the four burnout profiles identified by hierarchical cluster analysis of
the three dimensions of burnout at time 2.
45
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46
Figure 3: Significant differences in the perceived climate, perceived compentence,
achievement goals and burnout symptoms for the four burnout profiles. Mast-App = mastery
approach goal; Mast-Av = mastery avoidance goal; Perf-App = performance approach goal;
Perf-Av = performance avoidance.
Note. * = significant differences between the groups, (NS) = non significant differences
between the groups
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AGT AND BURNOUT IN ELITE TRAINING CENTERS
Figure 4: Structural equation modeling of the relations between coach climate, perceived competence, achievement goals and burnout across two
measurement waves. Completely standardized robust maximum likelihood parameter estimates. Only significant relationships are presented. CC
= coach climate; Mast-App = mastery approach goal; Mast-Av = mastery avoidance goal; Perf-App = performance approach goal; Perf-Av =
performance avoidance goal; SD = sport devaluation; RA = reduced accomplishment; PEE = physical and emotional exhaustion; T1 = November
2007; T2 = April 2008.
* p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001.